Beyond the Worlds
by aly208051
Summary: "Will we find each other then? If there really is an after world, will we still be together?" He chuckled at her words that night and answered her with a kiss on the forehead. It never occurred to him that someday the sentence would become something he pondered on through nights and days. [post-war Dramione] [EWE]
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

Chapter 1

There were shouting and screaming.

Curses and hexes flied across the lobby, lightening up the stormy enchanted ceiling, although it was no comparison to the roaring fire devouring the building in front of them.

Fiendfyre.

The fire ignited a deep, dragon-like hum in the ministry, syncing with the high pitch yelling and screaming that were now ringing everywhere, deafening the presence. People with hoods, people with robes, people with wands, running, lying, fighting, everywhere.

It was, like the muggle saying, an apocalypse.

Draco tried to push through the intruders and the aurors, throwing almost every hex and curse that was unforgivable and illegal at any enemy while running across the lobby to the lift, his own auror robes shredded to something unrecognizable, blood was streaming down his forehead, but there was no acknowledgeable physical pain for Draco, only the heavy, stinging, scorching pain in his heart and stomach that was choking him, blocking his rational thinking.

_They're in there._

_They're in here._

"Malfoy, No! DON'T GO IN THERE!" Harry fucking-head-auror Potter was screaming his name, "Fuck! _Bombarda_!" A loud explosion behind him, but Draco did not care, did not stop. Harry's voice trailing behind him, asking him to turn around.

_I'm almost there._

_I'm here._

However, before he could even reach the lift handle, a strong pull spun him around, nearly knocking him off. He snarled and pointed his wand to whoever that stopped him, a _Sectumsempra_ almost left his tongue before he recognized Theodore Nott holding his arms. "Let go of me." Draco panted, trying to shake off Theo's clutch,

"They're in there Theo! I have to… LET ME GO!" He almost screamed.

"Malfoy! You're not helping if you go there," Harry, who finally caught up with them yelled back at him, the-boy-who-doesn't-die has blood smeared all over his torso, a large gap cut across his chin, and while Draco can see the don't-trifle-with-the-head-auror look blazing his green eyes, he can also spot the fear in Harry's gaze, after all, _she_ is his best friend. "there is a fucking fire up there and if you threw yourself in the lift it is suicide. Seamus and the team are upstairs, I am not having you kill yourself and mess up the rescue."

"HERMIONE AND CASSIE IS DOWN THERE YOU FUCKER!" Something in Draco's conscience finally snapped, he shoved Harry in his shoulders while Theo was still grabbing at his elbow, simultaneously shooting hexes across their back while hoping Harry can talk some sense out of Draco.

"We will save them, we will, just fucking wait until…"

There was a sudden explosion underneath them, shaking the whole building and rummaging the ground, the loudest ever since the battle has begun, the three of them looked around alarmingly, and saw bodies suddenly being tossed out from a large hole that was blasted open through the marble floor a few feet away, fire licked through the gap, more screaming.

"Level nine…" Theo whispered, horrified.

With that cue, Draco shot a stunning spell towards Theo and ran for the lift, his brain completely blanked out when he heard the _nine_ out of Theo's mouth, _Department of Mysteries_. He didn't care that the lift shook violently, that the smoke was choking him out because he forgot to cast a shielding charm, that he almost broke the lift since he tried to yank it open when it didn't even reach level nine, he just want to find them, find them and save them, keep them safe.

His wife and daughter.

Maybe apocalypse was an underestimation, Draco lost his mind the second he stepped into the floor, he never saw so much body, body of the unspeakables, the floor workers, and the intruders, all simmering in fires.

_This is Hell_.

"Hermione!" Draco shouted, choking on the smoke while waving his wand to concur the fires that were rounding on him, "Cassie!" He tried to figure out the way to Hermione's supposed office, the floor was almost dissolved into an unrecognizable space, he tried with all his might to remember the route that he usually visited his wife's office every day, until he saw the familiar red hardwood door, which now hung loosely on the frame and burnt in fire.

He sprang into the office, but no sign of Hermione and their daughter, he ran through the corridors again, ignoring the burning sensation every where on his body, on his heart. He saw Seamus at the end of the corridor, just where the hole was blasted open, penetrating the building.

"Malfoy! Why are you here! Merlin!" Seamus roared between the tongue of the fire, shooting spells after spells to control the disaster, "Get out!"

"Finnigan," Draco coughed, grabbing Seamus by his collar and turned him around to face him, "Where… have you seen Hermione?"

"She's not out? I saw her with your daughter running out when I reached here, I thought she's out already…" Seamus said with a furrowed brow, gritting his teeth while he tried to focus on controlling the flame and answering Draco's question.

Draco cursed under his breath and ran pass Seamus, he did not even think whether he would get killed when he tried to disapparate out of the floor, he cast a landing spell on time before he crashed on to the lobby marbles. "Draco!" He heard Theo's raging voice from afar, but everything was too much to bear, his lungs were stuffed, he couldn't breathe, the surrounding was a blur and suddenly there was fog in his view.

_He cannot pass out yet._

_He hadn't found them yet._

_He needs to save them._

"_Glacius Eructo!"_

He heard her, he heard her before his eyelids fought its way close, he heard his Hermione yelling a spell he never heard of, although it wasn't something new, he chuckled inwardly, his wife was always a know-it-all who is much more powerful than him. All of a sudden, the atmosphere froze, literally _froze_. Draco could feel the wall he was leaning on glaze over, he could sense the deadly fire dying out in a blink, and the destroyed ministry suddenly felt like Antarctic, silence like the dead.

His witch saved the day, he just knew, it was always her that was the heroine.

He had to poke fun of her later, yeah, maybe later…

Draco finally gave in to his conscience, he dropped his head forward, falling into the dark.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Someone was sniffing beside him, a familiar but cold hand rested on his palm, he cannot move any part of his body, so he opened his eyes.

Bright, smell of potions, St. Mungos.

He fucking hates the hospital.

"Oh, Draco, thank Merlin." His mother's voice exclaimed nearby, he trailed his gaze aside and saw her signature long blond hair sitting beside his bed, even Narcissa Malfoy, who was forever gracious and elegant, looked worn out like she just went through hell. His mother has red-brimmed eyes and tear-stained cheeks, and her gaze was heartbreaking.

It took a second for everything to dawn on him, he immediately remembered the most important thing.

"Where are they?" He managed to choke out through his lungs, they felt burnt.

"Draco, I…"

Before Narcissa could answer, Draco's ward door swung open, his eyes widened when he saw Kingsley Shacklebolt, current Minister of Magic, entered the room accompanied by Harry Potter. Kingsley took off his usual signature high hat, his eyes layered with grief. But it was Harry's appearance that really startled Draco, Harry looked… broken, his eyes still swam with tears, like he just lost someone important, a _family_.

Draco's jaw tightened; he could feel the bile threatening to push through his esophagus.

Something's wrong. And he won't like it.

"Lady Malfoy. Auror Draco." Kingsley bowed his head at them, _bowed_.

Something is definitely fucking wrong.

"Where's Hermione?" Draco asked again through gritted teeth. He could feel the heat surrounding his eyes, his heartbeat became the only present sound in the ward. "And Cassie, where are they?" The questions seem to penetrate the three others in the room, without warning, Harry choked out a sob, finally collapsing to the floor.

_No._

"Cassiopeia is in the quarantine upstairs, Draco." Kingsley answered softly, his deep voice carrying through Harry's cries, and Draco felt his heart sank, "We found her in the Department of Mysteries, protected by Hermione's magic, it saved her from the fire."

"And?"

"Draco…" Narcissa called out to him, but he felt his conscious snap.

"Tell me where the fuck is my wife, _Minister_."

Kingsley looked deeply into Draco's eyes, he didn't even need to use occlumency to see the grief and dilemma behind the Minister's stare, he already knew.

"Hermione sacrificed. I'm so sorry, Draco."

That was the last thing he heard before his vision blacked out, after finally vomiting out everything and his shattered heart.

"_You'll going to spoil our daughter rotten, my dear." Hermione laughed at Draco while he cuddled their four-year-old girl in his arms. It was a late night, and while the couple already made strict rules that their daughter shouldn't be sharing bed with them after one, Draco was always the indulgent father that caved in because of a pair of teary eyes. Cassiopeia Janessa Malfoy is definitely a Slytherin through and through, much to Hermione's dismay, she always knew how to pull on her father's heartstring to get what she wants._

"_She's my girl," Draco smirked to his wife smugly, "My Cassie is born to be spoiled rotten." While pressing a light kiss on his daughter's forehead, his long fingers smoothing out her gold curls._

"_Still." Hermione feigned an unhappy shrug, and Draco laughed and pulled her close._

"_You're not jealous are you, love?" He planted another kiss on his wife's lips._

"_Course not, I'm just worried that she will turn out like her father." Her beautiful caramel eyes looked up into his, a Malfoy smirk spread across her lovely lips._

"_You love it." He quipped back, making no intention to let go of his daughter, "And be prepared, my dear, she'll be everything like me."_

Draco stared at the white ceiling of his hospital ward. His mother tried to talk to him, but he simply ignored her call.

_I'm sorry, Draco._

_Hermione sacrificed._

He wondered whether one's heart can ever felt so torn apart.

No one will ever understand the amount of love he shared with the woman that saved his life, restored his soul and colored his world. No one.

It was until late afternoon that Harry came into his room, he took one look at Draco's figure and sighed silently, Narcissa had went out to visit Cassiopeia's ward. Draco's heart thumped a beat at the sight of Harry, he knew that he came here to make further report on the Ministry's behalf, but he wasn't sure he was ready to hear the full story, how his fate had suddenly turned all the way to hell.

"She saved the whole Ministry, Malfoy." After sitting beside his bed and being silent for a full minute, Harry finally spoke, "The spell she used, although we still haven't figure out what magic it was, somehow managed to seize the fire before it burnt everything into ashes. She… she also saved Cassie, we suppose, because Cassie was found lying unconscious right in the middle of the flame, but she had a powerful magic shield covering her, the shield magic… it's very similar to the ones I had when I was an infant… the kind my mother placed on me at the time." When he saw Draco wasn't responding, he sighed again, "I'm sorry Malfoy, I should've done something," at that moment Harry's voice finally cracked, "anything that could save her, I…"

He composed himself before breaking down, with an audible sob, Harry hastily stood up and excused himself, "You have to get well soon, Draco. We need you when Cassie comes back, we may need her memory to investigate the whole incident, since she was with Hermione till the very end." And he turned to stroll out of the ward, but not fast enough to hide the tear streaking down his cheeks. The door closed with a loud thump, and everything in the room became quiet again.

A shield magic. A mother's sacrifice for her child.

As though all the emotions he tried so hard to push against the walls around the room suddenly bounce back into him with gravity force, Draco felt his mind burst open, tearing him apart from the middle. He let lout a screaming cry, feeling every part of his body burning like he was in the middle of the fire, he cried so hard that he could swore one of his organs might start to crack, or maybe _he_ was going to crack, this was thousands times of the Cruciatus Curse, infinite full body-bine pain.

_It was the night when they finally took their daughter home from St. Mongos after she was born, and both him and Hermione were exhausted. They managed to settle down as fast as possible and crashed into their bed. They slept for Merlin knows how long when Draco felt Hermione left the bed. Through the crack of his eyes, he saw her tip-toed to the crib on the other side of the bedroom and picked up their daughter, gently rocking the baby back and forth while talking to her._

"_Mummy's gonna take very good care of you." She whispered to the little bundle cradled in her arms. Through the silver moonlight, their silhouettes looked mesmerizing, and he couldn't take his eyes off them._

_His family. His life._

"_Daddy and mummy love you so much, Cassiopeia Janessa," Hermione planted a feathery kiss into the bundle, "We will protect you."_

_He stared ravenously. A present too good to be true, for him to own._

_But they're here, they're his._

_While Hermione still thought he was sound asleep, he made a promise too to protect his family with everything he could give._

_He wished he would never fail that even if he messed up everything else._

§

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	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Draco watched, his face null, at Cassiopeia's sleeping figure through her ward window. His mother sat in the chair next to her daughter, who the healer had informed them will be waking up in a couple of hours.

For the first time in his life, Draco didn't know how to face his daughter.

You see, the life of Draco Malfoy wasn't that kind of fairytale most people envisioned for a pureblood prince like him. He had indulgent parents, yes, but growing up in an ancient family that had strange obsessions towards dark magic did not count as entertaining, let along including those times when that sickly old maniac resided in his home. In conclusion, he almost assumed that his life would just carry on as miserable as life could be after the night his former headmaster fell from the astronomy tower. The moment the Dark Lord was defeated, Draco didn't even know whether he should weep for finally being rid of the torture or weep for the fact that the only thing he had left- his families, were all going to Azkaban. It was pure miracle that, the day when he sat resignedly in the middle of the Wizengamot and contemplate about how long he would be dead after going to jail, Hermione Granger the great heroine accompanied by her golden friends showed up to testify and saved the Malfoys from the terrible destiny.

It was also pure miracle that, despite all the tragic things he managed to impose on her, they still fell for each other, got married and had a wonderful child.

There wasn't a moment in his life after they fell in love that he did not remind himself repeatedly he didn't deserve this happiness, he having all these was simply because of pure luck which the universe had accidentally slipped him. Therefore, he made it his life resolution to give Hermione and Cassiopeia the best lives, especially to make sure Cassiopeia grew up with a wonderful, carefree childhood.

They were the light and source of his worthless life.

But now he had failed them. His daughter would wake up discovering that her mother had left her, and her father who always bragged about fulfilling all her dreams couldn't bring her mother back.

He is such a sorry of an excuse to live.

"I can hear you thinking, don't." A red hair materialized beside him, also gazing through the window at Cassiopeia, "Hermione would hex you to oblivion if she knew you ever thought that." Ginny casted a side glance at him.

Draco and Ginny had somewhat become a truce after a year into his relationship with Hermione, they became friends after the day Hermione made him floo to Grimmauld Place and ask Ginny to be Cassiopeia's godmother.

"I failed her. I'm the one responsible to Hermione's death." Draco whispered to the glass, clutching his hands tightly together, "I wasn't there to save her."

Ginny turned and shook his arm, "No one knows how it happened, Draco Malfoy, you listen here carefully- you don't get to blame yourself for all the bad things that happened."

"Why?" He muttered, not directing his words to anyone, simply a desperate man's confusion, "She… she's so good, so kind… why her?"

"Maybe that's the reason," Ginny smiled sadly, her blue eyes forming tears, "She was too kind to leave all the people to die."

"Hermione did what she thought necessary, Draco." She walked towards the ward door, holding onto the knob and motioning him to follow, "You have to trust her judgement and do what she would want you to do- take care of Cassie, be the strong father for her." Finally, moving like a corpse, he followed Ginny into Cassiopeia's room. Narcissa stood and gave both of them a hug, "The healers said she would wake up soon, her vitals are stable."

Draco nodded, fingers brushing through his child's hair, feeling his heart ache at the sight of her, a blond replica of his wife.

§

"Mum?" The moment her hazy pupil felt stabbed by lights too bright, Cassiopeia called out before addressing her surroundings. She felt a cold but large hand holding hers and recognize her father's familiar clutch before turning her head slightly to see him. "Dad?" She choked out, seeing her father who was usually perfect tailored and composed so disheveled and devastated made her heart rate increase.

"I'll go call the healers." Narcissa stood up swiftly and went outside. Draco knew that his mother doesn't want to be present when her granddaughter's heart break after receiving the news.

"How are you feeling, Cassie?" Draco croaked, holding her hands tighter, "Are you hurting?" Cassiopeia shook her head at her father's question.

All of a sudden, she became aware of her environment. There were many people in her room, aside from her father, Aunt Ginny and Uncle Harry were present, accompanied by a few men who dressed like her father when he usually went to work, she spotted Uncle Theo among them.

And everything hit her.

"Dad! Mum… she… she is down there!" She yelled hastily, grabbing Draco's robes, "You have to go save her!"

Draco's heart wrenched at her words.

"Cas," Harry stepped in, putting his hand gently on Cassiopeia's, "What do you remember about before you passed out?"

She tried to understand what her Uncle Harry was asking. However, she did not miss the fact that he avoided her exclaim, everyone in the room avoided answering where her mother was. After a few seconds of contemplation, her memories swam in.

_Fire. Her mother hugging her tight when they crashed into the floor._

_A man laughing. Her mother shielding her from the sight, eyes wary._

_Roar of the ground. Roar of the __**world**__._

_Be good for Daddy, Cassie. Her mother holding her hands, kissing her cheeks._

_Mommy loves you._

_Fires converge together, piercing through a floating body in midair._

"No…" Cassiopeia quivered, her lips trembling while looking into her father's eyes, and recognized the grief in his expression, "Mom fell, Dad, Mom… she fell through a door, or an arch." She choked out a sob while remembering it, tears burnt hot against her face. Draco leaned in and tucked his daughter in the crook of his neck as she cried into his robes, he could feel tears drenching his cheeks too, it was just too much to bear, and he could only embrace Cassiopeia tighter.

"I'm so sorry, Cas," Draco whispered in her ears, voice weak and out of breath, "I should've been there for you two."

"Mom fought the bad guy… he fell through the door too…" She muttered, wishing her brain could just start working to form everything into words. Draco nodded but did not reply, he shared a knowing glance at Harry, whose eyes were hard too. Of course they knew this incident wasn't some random tragedy, someone must have had this all planned out, someone was responsible for Hermione's death.

And Draco want that person dead. No, tortured and dead.

"Cas, I'm going to need your memory of that time okay? The memory about what happened to you and your mom that day, if that's okay?" Harry offered gently, when he saw Cassiopeia's confused expression, "You just have to think of it, I'll take the memory out for you. We need it to know what happened to your mother."

Cassiopeia turned to Draco for indication, her father nodded rather stiffly.

"Okay." She whispered and Harry drew out his wand. Placing it softly against Cassiopeia's temple, he muttered the incantation and swiftly pulled out the silver memory with the tip, dropping it into the flask he then transfigured. "Thank you, Cassie pie." Harry smiled sadly, planting a kiss on the top of her hair. Standing up, he tipped his chin at Draco and strode out the door without a backward glance.

"Where is Uncle Harry going?" Cassiopeia whispered, her head ringed with alarm at her uncle's stern looks.

"He went to take care of the situation, don't worry, Cassie." Ginny sat down on the other side of her bed, taking Harry's vacant seat. She helped her goddaughter adjust the pillows and guided her to lie down. "Rest more. Your father and I will stay here with you." She paused a second and said to Draco, "If you want to take care of other things, I will stay here with her until you return."

Draco pinched his nose bridge to compose himself, muttering his thanks to Ginny, he kissed Cassiopeia on the forehead before standing up. He needed to bring himself together so that he could stay strong for his daughter and hunt down the criminal to revenge his wife. "Grandmother Cissa will come in later to take care of you too, sleep, darling." He followed Harry's steps out and closed the door of the ward behind him, taking a deep breath while leaning against the walls.

He would have time to deal with the emotions after all this was over.

Now all he should do was to stay composed, stay focused.

§

Harry, as the head of Magical Law Enforcement, turned in Cassiopeia's memory to the Wizengamot the moment he had it. Burning with rage at whoever took the life of his best friend, his sister, he just wished to get the hearing over with and start tracking down the bastard. The hearing was scheduled the day after Harry and Draco slammed open Kingsley's office and submitted the flask of silver substance. It was the biggest news across the prophet. People were craning their necks to see what truly happened on the day that destroyed half of the Ministry assets and robbed hundreds of Ministry employees' life.

On the day of the hearing, Draco remembered how he hated being in the court, it got him flashbacks of his trial fifteen years ago. And now here's another reason to add to his list of reasons he hated this place.

Kingsley gave a brief acknowledgement speech. Draco vaguely heard his name in the mist of noise and lowered his head stiffly when the Minister asked the crowd to mourn for the losses. Kingsley then conjured out the magnifying pensieve, an invention that enables everyone to see the memory play like muggle motion pictures, and they waited silently as Cassiopeia's memory sank into the basin.

The whole Wizengamot gasped as lights shot out from the pensieve, forming a large triangle to replay the image. Draco, Harry and other aurors sat at the front row, their expressions were serious and determined. Draco could feel himself grasping the arm of the chair so hard that his fingertips must drew blood. This day had supported him to recover as fast as possible, to discover who was responsible for the chaos, his wife's death, and to whom he shall seek revenge.

Not that anyone knew the last part of course. The authorities would just lock the person up to rot, but that wasn't what he wanted.

Before Draco could contemplate more, Cassiopeia's memory became to life, and everyone's gaze fixed on the display in the middle of the court.

§

_Her mass curl of hair was wild under the fire lights, she gripped her daughter with one hand, the other shooting violent hexes towards the masked intruders. Cassiopeia stuck to her mother's side, even though she was terrified, she did not panic, she reacted like a perfect Malfoy-Granger combination._

"_Stupify!" Hermione stunned another enemy, finally reaching the end of the corridor. She reached out to pull open the lift before turning around to carry Cassiopeia in her arms. However, before she could step in, the marble floor beside her suddenly blasted open, revealing a large gap that made her fall through._

Draco bit the inside of his mouth so hard that he tasted blood when he heard Hermione and Cassiopeia's scream when they fall. He could hear Hermione's bone broke when she land first on the grounds, trying to protect their daughter from hurting.

"_Mommy!" Cassiopeia cried when she saw Hermione spit out mouthful of blood, but Hermione shook her head and silenced her. She pulled herself up from the floor, imping slightly, she held Cassiopeia firmly and looked around._

Harry gasped. All the former DA members that attended this hearing gasped when they recognized the place where Hermione had landed. And Draco understood immediately, he had heard about this place before, about the story, from his father and Hermione respectively. It was the Veil, where Sirius Black was killed by his crazy aunt Bellatrix.

More surprisingly, they were not the only people there.

"_Mr. Diggory?" Hermione scowled, "Amos, is that you?"_

§ § §

Thank you for all the lovely reviews! I'm still getting use to FFnet so please excuse me if I haven't responded! Nevertheless, thank you for joining this week's journey ;)

I know you might think this is a tragedy… please have fate in me, I'm a total sucker for happy endings, I'm just a sucker of angsty plots too :D

Enough of the babbling… hope you guys enjoy the update. I try to update weekly unless there's something else!

Love, Aly.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

_The man, clearly dressed like the masked men upstairs that started the fight, did not wear a mask as he turned around. Amos Diggory's face shone stoically in the light._

"_Hermione Granger, no sorry, Hermione Malfoy is it? I was hoping to meet your other friend, Pity."_

_Hermione frowned deeper, "It was you. The threats DMLE received last few months… you're after Harry, aren't you?" Meanwhile, she slightly backed off to the corner, trying to shield Cassiopeia in the dark. Upon the arch, fires were starting to go out of control, they can hear screaming and shouting echoing through the walls._

_Amos Diggory let out a harsh laugh, clapping his hands in a mocking way, "Indeed the brightest witch of the world, Mrs. Malfoy, they should've appointed you Minister of Magic instead of Head of Unspeakables, or are you already electing?"_

"_Why are you doing this Amos, you'll go straight to the dementors for this." Hermione's threat did not meet him halfway before being cut off with a wave._

"_This…" Amos pointed at the Veil, "could bring back my son."_

"_The people who are responsible for my boy's death are all parading around this Ministry. Harry Potter, for instance, is praised like a king because those stupid morons forgot __**everything**__ started because of him. Oh, and of course Deatheaters, I'm sure you're quite familiar with that, __**Mrs. Malfoy.**__ Deatheaters working as though they did nothing wrong, forming __**families**__." He almost hissed out the last word, Hermione saw his eyes darting towards Cassiopeia, she pulled her daughter closer._

"_Cedric's dead. And I'm very sorry for your loss, Amos, but there's no way you could bring him back. You have to move on."_

"_I'm surprised you said that, I thought you of all Unspeakables would know." Amos drawled menacingly, hand stretching out towards the Veil, "The door of Sacrifice. A soul for a soul. In exchange for the other world." His eyes flickered around the stone arch while Hermione blanched when hearing the words._

_She thought of the people they crossed before landing here, she thought of all the living ones now fighting restlessly through the flames, she thought of her family and friends. If Amos Diggory was going to do what she assumed he was going to do, all of them dies._

_She cannot let it happen._

"_You see, I think a Ministry full of dead bodies must be a good exchange. I think the other world would agree." Amos looked like he was half out of his mind, the venomous words rolled out his tongue so easily as though it was an evening greeting._

"_You're mad." Hermione whispered. But Amos laughed even harder._

"_My heart died with Cedric that day. Tell me, have you ever lost a child before?"_

_With that, he pointed his wand at Hermione and shot a killing curse. Hermione leapt aside, hugging Cassiopeia tightly while shielding them with a Protego and hexing back at him. "I wanted to sacrifice Harry Potter's soul, but I guess the famous Hermione Granger can do the trick too."_

_Hermione seemed to be struggling with some inner thought. She knew that she could win the duel, but Amos should be captured instead of killed, even though he was unstable and mental as hell. On the other hand, she cannot concentrate on fighting with Cassiopeia beside her, she is the priority that she will protect. Amos tutted as the curse missed Hermione again, his eyes were dazed, unfocused._

_Hermione was sure this old man had cracked._

_She saw him turned towards the arch and raised his wand._

"_An eye for an eye. A soul for a soul. I trade death with you to grant me what my heart desires."_

_Cassiopeia screamed when she watched Amos Diggory pulled out his eye from the socket and through it into the arch._

_It was like horror stories. The black essence floating between the arch suddenly turned bright red, they could hear Amos cackle when blood pooled down his wrinkled cheeks, the arch grew bright, the ghost like soul of Cedric Diggory seemed to form between the far end of the arch, walking towards their present world._

"_My son!" Amos cries. Running towards the ghost of Cedric, however stopped when he saw his son retreating backwards after gradually coming clear, the figure shook his head disappointedly, as though he could see the chaos on the other side of the Veil._

"_What have you done, father." Cedric's sad voice echoed towards them; his handsome face written with rage. Hermione swallowed as she watched in shock as her late schoolmate slowly materialized in front of them._

_If Cedric materialized fully, dreadful things were going to happen, she just knew._

"_I can bring you back, Ced. Come now, we can do this."_

"_Father…" Before Cedric can answer, Hermione raised her wand abruptly and shot a stunning spell at Amos back. However, what she didn't expect was him falling forward into the Veil, into the other side. The Veil hummed deeply, and she stared horrified as Cedric suddenly became more and more solid._

_Amos had become the sacrifice._

"_Fuck." Hermione and Cedric swore together._

"_Hermione, I can't come back, this needs to be stopped." Cedric yelled at Hermione, "I need you to close this arch now before the tunnel path formulates, you know how to close it, right?" She nodded quickly, "Cedric, the fire… I have to stopped it before the Ministry burns down?"_

_Cedric gave Hermione a sad smile, "I understand. You do what you need but make it quick."_

_Hermione sighed, the grip on her wand loosened a bit as she was mentally exhausted by the things that were going to happen next, it's like surrendering to a war you know you'll never win. She knew how to close the Veil, she knew the Veil would serve as an energy transport and absorb the fire if asked, and if she didn't success her daughter and the rest of the Ministry would burn and die._

_She had to protect their daughter first. Draco would've done the same thing._

_She turned to Cassiopeia and knelt in front of her, a smile forming in the corner of her mouth when she saw her daughter's wide gray pupils, the exact duplicate of her father. Hermione felt proud that she and Draco raised their daughter well, she was brave even in this circumstance._

"_Mommy is so proud of you, Cassiopeia." Hermione reached out and brushed one of her daughter's golden curls behind her ears, "Thank you for being such a good girl."_

"_What shall we do now, Mommy?" Cassiopeia whispered to Hermione. The fire was beyond control, the grounds around them were on fire, Hermione's shield charm was the only thing keeping them at bay, even a kid like her could sense the danger approaching._

"_Be a good girl for Daddy, will you Cassie?" Hermione smiled at her, holding their hands tightly together, she made sure her daughter could hear her beyond the roaring flames, "Promise Mommy?"_

_Cassiopeia nodded, Hermione's smile widened, but streaks of tears were pouring through her eyes, Cassiopeia tried to brush them away but Hermione gently clasped her wrist, she kissed the palm of her daughter's._

"_Be safe, Cassie, no matter what happens, be good and be you."_

"_Always remember that Mommy loves you, Daddy loves you beyond everything in our lives."_

"_Mommy will keep you safe. Mommy will miss you, so much so much my lucky star."_

_There was another roar of fire and Cedric's voice telling her to hurry._

_Hermione hugged Cassiopeia tightly once again and showered her with kisses then stood up, with a few waves of her wand and spells a shield covered around the little girl, blocking out all the debris and heat from the outside._

_A mother's protection._

"_Mom!" Cassiopeia cried as she watched Hermione stepped away from her with teary but determined eyes, she knocked on the shield but it didn't budge._

"_Be good for Daddy, Cassie." Hermione whispered again, while backing off towards the arch, her eyes never left her daughter, "Tell Daddy I love him, I love you two so much, more… more than anything, I love you."_

_Cassiopeia was never a daft child that cannot comprehend what's going on._

"_Mom, NO!"_

_Hermione turned and raised her wand to the Veil and yelled, "A soul for a soul. A sacrifice… for the better lives." The arch turned red again._

"_I am the Head of the Department of Mysteries. I now command you to seal your magic, and take back what you imposed, and I… am the offering."_

_The Veil let out another identical hum like a few moments ago, Cassiopeia screamed as she saw the red essence of the arch spit out suddenly and tangled around Hermione, who whimpered slightly as her fractured bones crashed around the thorn which the essence formed into, she choked out a mouthful of blood which spread on the stone floor, like flowers decaying into earth._

"_Cas…. Close your eyes, it's okay baby." Hermione tried so hard to smile at her daughter as she held out her wand once more, arms limped by exhaustion._

"_**Glacio Expluso.**__"_

_The feindfyre seemed to hear Hermione's spell. They gathered like magnets and accumulated into a flame pillar which transformed into ice in the next blink of the eye, soaring right towards Hermione, who opened her arms, letting the object penetrate through her chest into the closing arch. Cassiopeia shrieked and hammered the shield violently._

_Within minutes, the transformed flames vanished through the sealing arch, disappearing into the unknown side of the Veil. Hermione however, floated in midair, she could feel her life and magic slipping out of her like quicksand. Dying was, like they said, peaceful._

_She looked at her daughter again hungrily, her eyes full of grief and resignation. She had saved her. She kept her safe._

"_Don't cry, Cassie pie."_

_And with all her strength she managed a smile, before falling through the closed arch. The Veil let out its final echo, muting again when the red essence returned to black, as though nothing had happened._

_Cassiopeia rolled her eyes back and lost conscious._

§

The image disappeared. Leaving the whole court silence as hell.

The amount of devastation and disbelief was beyond description.

Draco realized he was falling forward when Harry and Theo caught his arms.

§§§

Sorry for the short update, I had a lot of personal stuffs going on lately but I managed to update on schedule (sort of…)! Hope you guys enjoyed the update, even though it's not a very cheerful one :( I don't have betas so I apologize if there's many writing errors, I'll try my best to read through them repeatedly and correct them.

And while I truly hope you all had a great day and life, I just want to mention briefly to anyone who sees this: I share my love and prayers with you, no matter where you are, I am glad that you're okay and I am so grateful that you exist. Please cherish yourself and note that you are precious, don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

In honor of recent events happening around us.


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